This Is Me Maria

Plastic bags are so over. Not only are they just plain ugly, but they are evil. They can be reused maybe once, recycled rarely, biodegrade - pretty much never.

Reusable grocery bags are in and here to stay. Many are bigger, stronger, and hipper than your average plastic bag.

Of course you can get the store branded fuzzy reusable bags, but for those who like a little flare in their grocery trips, there are so many stylish and convenient other reusable grocery bag options.

Here are the ones I’ve used so far. I’ve looked at many of the grocery bag options out there. So many of them are just branded canvas bags, but a few companies have taken it to a new great level.

Envirosax www.envirosax.com

I purchased the 5 pack of the Monochromatic Series. At $35 I felt they were pretty spendy for grocery bags. However I get compliments on them all the time and they are very large and sturdy. If you don’t mind the task of rolling them back up, it is nice that all 5 fit in the convenient little pouch. These are my favorite because they are so pretty and hold so much. I’ll probably order more because the snap came off of one and I lost one.

Flip & Tumble www.flipandtumble.com

This bag is ingenious. I only have one because I bought one for my MIL that I keep forgetting to give her. It is super easy to tote around in your purse and even easier to fold back up when you are done with it. This bag is a bit smaller than my other bags but still holds quite a bit. The only drawback is that it kind of looks like you are toting around a pair of socks.

Grocery Buddy

No link for this guy, I found him in a little tub at Whole Foods while I waited in line horrified that I had forgotten my bags.  This little guy comes in a little bag with a tiny carabiner key chain. It is attached to the little bag and easily folds back up into itself. This one is on the smaller side but it is good to have just in case.

Other grocery bags I am looking at:

Re-usable produce bags www.kootsac.etsy.com

I don’t know about you, but I hate it when cashiers just stick things into little plastics bags with out asking. It would be handy to have these along.

Foldable Shopping Trolley by Globally Cute on Amazon.com

I think this is a good option for walking down to the local store just to grab a gallon of milk and maybe a few other things. A situation that might normally cause you drive can be turned into an opportunity to burn some calories, save some gas and, save the planet.

Despite my cult like addiction to all things organic, energy saving and, reusable products, our carbon footprint is still huge. If everyone lived like I do - we would need 4.81 planets. While my carbon footprint is less than the national average - it is still huge.

So I am reevaluating some of our plans, making a list of everything we already do as well as everything that we could do.

Some of the more affordable things are walking and biking to the store more since it is so close, buying in bulk more rather than the individual sized things. We just used our last ziploc bag the other day, and I purchased some good reusable tupperware that we can use instead. I am also thinking that with as much as it rains here, we could collect a lot of water with a rain barrel.

A lot of the places where we could make a big difference are expensive, like an eco friendly remodel, like new windows and more insulation, and even paper products made of recycled paper. I don’t often buy paper products made of recycled paper because they are so expensive. As a kid, my dad always bought paper products made of recycled paper. We used to joke with him that our toilet paper was like wiping your ass with tree bark.

The guilt of not doing the downstairs more eco friendly is going to haunt me for a long time. The good news is that we did use products that are long lasting and sturdy as well as neutral and not trendy, so they should not need to be replaced for a long time.

Today I have to go to a store that is 3 miles away. I was thinking that we should try taking the bus but I don’t have any cash on me. I rarely have cash on me so I would have to drive over a mile to get to my credit union’s ATM. Also public places like buses are a breeding ground for germs and my kids like to touch everything. I think we’ll have to drive but I still have guilt.